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The Dominion
March 18 1995
Payout decision 'hard for Ellis'
Convicted child molester Peter Ellis would be hit hard by the success
of the Christchurch childcare workers in winning compensation for wrongful
dismissal, his mother Lesley Ellis said last night.
"I'm glad for the women but I'm also very sad. This will hit Peter very
hard."
The women had suffered a lot and deserved everything they got, but he was the
one in jail. "They're certainly better off than he is."
According to Mrs Ellis, there were signs her son, sentenced to 10 years in
prison for various indecency charges, was giving up.
Ellis, who is nearly six feet (1.8 metres) tall, though eating, weighed only
nine stone (57 kilograms). Formerly a prolific letter writer, he had also
stopped replying to supporters. "He feels unable to express how he's
feeling, without the anger and the hurt showing through," Mrs Ellis
said. "He's become very quiet."
On his birthday at the end of the month, it would be three years to the day
since he was arrested and there now appeared little hope that he would be
freed.
Even parole chances a year or two down the track now seemed unlikely to go
his way.
Mrs Ellis, in bad health herself, said things appeared to be at a frustrating
impasse.
"I think the others have failed him," she said.
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